Virtua Fighter 5 was probably one of the most overlooked fighting game of the 00’s. While Virtua Fighter 5 was praised by critics and various gaming publications the game was not quite as popular in America as titles such as Soul Calibur III-V, Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6 or others. Virtua Fighter 5 had initially received an arcade release back ’06 and had at least three different arcade versions of the game that was released in Japan within five years. Virtua Fighter 5 did not appear in America for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 until ’07 with different versions of the game being available for each console. By the the mid 00’s-early 10’s time period it was a bit surprising that Sega was still creating arcade system video games. Ever since the release of the PS3 & Xbox 360 back in ’06 online gaming had become increasingly more popular and the idea of going to arcade centers to play video games started to fade in countries like America. Apparently, arcade systems were still very popular Japan during the 00’s and the early 10’s to some extent; along with the Virtua Fighter series being more popular in that country more so than America.
Virtua Fighter 5 focused on the Fifth World Fighting Tournament and how J6 the entity who is funding it has hidden motives in relation to world domination. J6 scientists were conspiring to create a powerful fighting machine with human features following the launch of their highly classified Dural program. The story for Virtua Fighter 5 follows that of its ’01 predecessor Virtua Fighter 4 which saw Vanessa Bryant get captured by J6; before she was ultimately set free one of J6’s cyborg models known a V-Dural. Virtua Fighter included a variety of familiar faces within the series including Sarah Bryant, Jacky Bryant, Pai Chan, Akira Yuki and others; who had been around since the inception of the series back in ’93. The visuals for Virtua Fighter 5 looked incredible and the inclusion of a Clash System was a significant improvement for Sega in terms of gameplay. As a arcade fighting game Virtua Fighter 5 still holds up to this day and often seen as one the best installments within the entire series. While Virtua Fighter 5 may not be as iconic as the original game from ’93 its still a fighting game that is worth playing based on various reviews it has received over the past decade or so.
Gaming Hearts Collection 